This isn’t the usual blog entry but I just kinda’ wanted to share it. Today I went outside in the early afternoon and started tinkering with my MGB on what was a beautiful fall day. My Wifey was inside studying and instead of her being in there and complaining that we weren’t spending any time together (which lately, we haven’t been due to our horrible schedules) she grabbed a chair and her computer, set them up right next to the garage door, and studied outside while I worked on my little British car. It was really nice. She was there with me and while we weren’t really doing much together, we WERE together. I’m a pretty lucky guy…I love my Wifey and we actually enjoy each other’s company. Just a really nice day.
11-06-2008
While I did install the new thermostat and housing on the engine this morning, today was sandblasting day. I got bundled up in my hat, ear protection, breathing filter, scuba mask and nylon jacket and started blasting a bunch of the little parts that needed to be cleaned up I blasted the front and rear halves of the heater box inside and out, one of the front fender splash panels the inner halves of the air cleaner cans and their bases, the small oval shifter surround plate on top of the tranny tunnel, the fan belt pulley and the brake and clutch pedals Kevin gave me. After they were all blasted and cleaned I sprayed a coat of etching primer and then gloss black paint.
In an earlier blog I wrote that I had decided to not sandblast the entire car because you can never get all of the sand out and it invariably winds up getting in the final paintjob. Well I cleaned all the parts I blasted with compressed air for an amount of time almost equal to the time it took to blast the parts. I primed them and no sand showed up. Then I painted them and no sand showed up…until I sprayed the front of the heater box. Sure enough, as soon as I got it almost completely painted, sand appeared and totally ruined the finish. And, of course, it was on the front of the heater box, the most visible part of all. Oh well, so I guess I have to blast that part again. Since I still have the wheels, front suspension and a bunch of other small parts to do I guess I can live with that.
I’m getting close to finishing the engine bay cleaning and painting but I have a quandary; the area surrounding the brake and clutch master cylinders is filthy and corroded but it is too tight to get inside of with wire brushes and scrapers to thoroughly clean, prep and paint. I didn’t want to pull the hydraulics but it looks like I have no choice. The area really needs cleaned and painted or it will wind up a rusted-out mess in a very short number of years. I hate to pull the brake and clutch masters because they aren’t leaking and, when it comes to British cars, if it isn’t leaking you do not ever touch it!
Though I hate to do it, it looks like I’m gonna wind up pulling the lines of the masters and pulling them out as a single unit while attached to the pedal box support structure. It is held in by 8 bolts and may be a bit tougher than pulling the masters out individually but I think it will put less stress on the units.
And, as much as I also hate to say this, I’m going to probably have to sandblast that part of the engine compartment. I’ll seal off as much of the engine itself and other various openings in the bay as well as covering the majority of the car in a large tarp to keep sand from getting in ever little nook and cranny. The area is solid but there is enough surface corrosion and grime that it justifies blasting the whole thing. I don’t want to have to go back and clean and paint the area again in the next decade so it has to be well sealed now.
11-9-2008
Broke down and bought a MIG welder today. It’s one of the cheapo harbor freight 90-amp welders. I’m sure it won’t last long but, then again, it doesn’t have to. All I need it for is the bodywork on the car and after that, I really don’t care. It was on sale for $119.95 so not too bad a price. I also bought the welding gloves and small clamps to hold the pieces in place while welding. It came with a cheap-ass welding mask but that is better than none. I also bought a wobble extension set and a regular extension set plus a tap and die set. I got everything on sale because I am …(survey says) That’s right, Cheap!!!
11-10-2008
Rolled the B out of the garage today and started sandblasting the engine compartment in the area of the clutch and brake masters. I covered everything with a tarp, covered the engine with plastic and another tarp and stuffed foam rubber in every opening I could (the car, not me). The results, of course, is that sand got everywhere! That’s exactly why I didn’t want to do any sandblasting on the car in the first place.
It took about 20 minutes to blast the area and then I spent at least an hour with the air nozzle blowing sand out of the car…the sand is still all over the place and when I primed the areas I blasted, it was, of course, polluted with sand. Oh well, at least it is all clean and de-rusted.
I loaned my Olympus digital camera to a friend of my ex-wife (ain’t I nice) for a scuba diving trip. I have the underwater dive housing for it and I’d rather loan it than see someone spend a butt-load on something they’ll only use a few times a year. And she’s a nice person to so it’s all good The only problem is that I am now without a camera to document the resto for at least 10 days. I tried taking a pic with my phone (see below) and that turned out shitty.
I’ll see if I can borrow my daughter’s camera because this no camera crap is for the birds.
I sprayed the front of the heater box and, as I wrote previously, sand got in the paint. So I took some 400-grit sandpaper and wet-sanded it and took off as little paint as possible while getting the sand out. Then, I resprayed it and, as my luck seems to be holding, it wrinkled and lifted. So when it was dry, I wet-sanded it again and noticed something that looked really cool. The letters of the words “Smiths” is pressed into the metal on the front of the heater box from behind and when I sanded it, I took the paint off just the letters. The contrast of the silver letters on the black box looked really good. So when I resprayed the piece, I wet sanded the letters again and I’m going to leave it that way. I’ll put a few layers of clear coat over it but the contrasting letters look really cool. The paint lifting off, it turns out, was a fortunate accident.
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